


Gone

by TaraHarkon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Boggarts, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-09
Updated: 2015-09-09
Packaged: 2018-04-19 20:56:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4760726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraHarkon/pseuds/TaraHarkon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco wakes in the night to a sound he had hoped he would never hear again, a sound he last heard when he was seventeen and foolish.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gone

At first, Draco wasn’t sure where he was and what had woken him. He wasn’t even honestly sure of the year. It was dark and the silk sheets were soft around him, but the sound that assaulted his ears was unmistakably the screams of torture. Sitting up, he tried to get his mind to orient, tried to place himself properly in time. He wasn’t a boy trapped in a house with a mass murderer and his mad aunt. He knew that much. So what was going on? He grabbed his wand from the bedside table and eased himself out of the bed. Then he realized what was missing. His wife. Where was his wife?  
“Lumos.”  
Using the pale light of his wand to guide him, he made his way through the manor. The manor. Urgency was finally clearing his sleep-addled mind. It was Christmas and they were staying at his parents’ for the holidays so that Scorpius could have his first Christmas in the proper Malfoy fashion. A glance into the nursery told him his son was fine and still sleeping. Picking up his pace, he tried to imagine what he was going to find. That was Hermione’s voice. He was certain now. He’d heard this once long ago and had hoped to never hear her in pain like this ever again. Rounding a corner, he found her curled up on the floor with a shadowy figure looming up over her. He didn’t even try to process who it could be, he just lashed out with everything he had. The figure turned, apparently unaffected by his hexes and the chill light of his wand lit the mad face, the wild hair and the cruel smile of his aunt.  
“Aunt…Aunt Bella?”  
Fear choked his throat and he started to take a half step back. Then he looked at Hermione again and steeled himself. Bellatrix took another step towards him and then she did an odd thing. She changed, morphed. Greyback.  
“Come here, little Draco. Pretty little pup…”  
His blood ran cold but he knew what he was looking at now and silently thanked Lupin for teaching them about Boggarts as students. Lupin. Perfect.  
“Riddikulus!”  
Fenrir Greyback changed immediately, taking on instead of the form of the small Lupin boy that Draco had found himself babysitting several times with his color-changing hair and silly muggle games. Then the Boggart fled. His wand fell from his fingers as he ran to Hermione’s side, pulling her into his arms.  
“She’s gone, Hermione. Gone. I promise, she’s gone. It was a Boggart, love. Just a Boggart.”  
Hermione tried to pull away from him for a moment, then she looked into his eyes and clung to him, trying not to cry.  
“What were you even doing out of bed, love?”  
She buried her face in his chest and murmured something.  
“What was that?”  
“I couldn’t sleep. I came down here to read something.”  
“And you found a Boggart.”  
“Yes…”  
Draco helped her to her feet.  
“Come on, love. Let’s get you back to bed and we’ll see if I can’t find a way to help you sleep.”  
She shoved him a little.  
“Sometimes, you’re a right git.”  
“I might be, but you’re smiling again.”


End file.
